Monday, April 6, 2009

We Need This Mike Jenkins in 2009

There is a lot of concern these days about the cornerback position after the Cowboys traded Anthony Henry to Detroit for Jon Kitna. I was thinking back today about how excited I was about Mike Jenkins after the 2008 draft. The YouTube video here reminded me exactly why I was so excited. We need the guy in the video to show up in 2009. Towards the end of 2008 Jenkins was starting to show some flashes of his potential but not consistently like you would hope to see from a first round draft pick.

Jenkins is clearly a gifted athlete and hopefully he will show us more in 2009 than he did in 2008. His strength is matching up man-to-man and the Cowboys turned to more man coverage in the second half of the season after Wade Phillips took over the defensive signal calling duties. He was labeled as soft after avoiding contact late in the week 9 game against the Giants last season. The hit on the video above shows that he is willing to put a hit on someone but, again, we need to see it happen in the NFL.

The Cowboys are going to need him to be a big time player so the defense can be dominant next season. Jenkins will be starting opposite Terrance Newman with Orlando Scandrick handling the slot duties if things go as currently planned. That means that Jenkins will be on the field for nearly every defensive snap. And if the they decide not to risk Felix Jones on kick returns then Jenkins is at least another option to consider. It is time for Mike Jenkins to step up and turn his potential into actual production on the field for the Dallas Cowboys.